Junior Olympic track meet wraps up in Bend

For the first time ever, Bend played host to the USATF Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships for the Northwest Region, which wrapped up Sunday.

The regional meet is typically held in Salem but this year, Summit High was host to the four-day event.

There were some impressive accomplishments during the meet, including one athlete in the hammer throw who threw it 196 feet.

Summit track Coach Dave Turnbull said that’s right up there with the best in the country.

For many of the athletes who qualify for the upcoming national championships, now it’s just a question of finances.

“If they can all afford it to go to Baltimore, they need to go, because it’s an experience of a lifetime to go to a national-caliber meet,” Turnbull said. “We saw yesterday a national record in one of the youth categories here.”

Turnbull was talking about a 10-year-old girl who long-jumped 17 feet, a national age-group record. She just barely missed the world record.

Also, Mountain View’s Mitch Modin won the young men’s decathlon, scoring 6,341 points.

If you would like to help attract more events to Bend, you can do so by logging onto www.trackforbend.com.